Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The most interesting thing that I found was how the internet grew so fast, and that growth was partly to do with the freedom and decentralized foundation that it is based off of. There has been little to no government regulation, almost no taxes, or licenses, not central hub that controls every aspect of the web. Just like an unfettered free market system in society, an unfettered and unregulated internet system is the most friendly environment for innovation and prosperity. This freedom has allowed for people from all over the world, from all walks of life, rich and poor, PhD's and Dropouts and everyone in between, to contribute to the evolution of the internet. In just the past 10 years we have gone from downloading a song on the internet in an hour to downloading a song in five seconds, literally. Since the internet was created about 50 years ago, it has improved in leaps and bounds, as with computers, more so than any other industry.

Of course this has also allowed for free speech to finally be able to breath again since the newspapers and television shows were taken over by the corporate media and government controls. The internet has leaked information from corrupt governments, has allowed for protestors to take down oppressive governments and made it possible for people to spread the truth around the world in a second and gain their freedom from tyranny. Maybe why this is why the governments of the world are trying to censor and regulate the internet with kill switches and licenses(yes it's a Fox News link, but just deal with!) . Apparently internet censorship can make you a zombie.

I'm a mass comm major at Texas State University, with a minor in poli sci, however, I might switch my minor to economics so that I can convince the mainstream that Keynesian Economics is harmful to liberty and also prosperity; free market economics needs to be brought and taught to the public domain again. Anyways, I seek the truth and that's what brings me into journalism; I really believe that the media needs not just a facelift, but also an organ transplant (a spine implant might also be welcomed!).

My personal hero is Ron Paul; yes he is a politician, but he is much more than just a public servant. He is a civil rights leader, a social movement leader, the leader of the Second American Revolution, in a peaceful way of course. I liken him to Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson and other freedom fighters. He is the only presidential candidate (and one of the only elected officials) who will end the wars, bring our troops home from the 900 bases that we have in 135 countries around the world. He is the only one who will end the (un)Partiot Act and bring back our Liberties and the Constitution back. He is the only one who warned us of the economic collapse. He is the only one who will save us from tyranny/ He is the one.

I'm excited to be in Web Design because not only is this an interest to me and not only will it help my professional life, but also it will help me improve my recently revamped "news blog", The Austin Free Press. There isn't much content anymore because I removed all of the previous entries to improve the quality of the journalism - a fresh start if you will.

Anyways, I think a good thing to leave you with is Gandhi's famous words of wisdom, "you must be the change that you wish to see in the world."

While the video was a bit confusing due to the technical lingo, I found it very interesting. Having grown up in the internet era, I've never really considered how it came about or how it functions because it has always just been there. The process of innovation that led to the internet, though we are only half-way through it, is quite fascinating now that I have stopped to think about it.

As I was thinking about the video from class, my fiancee brought an interesting fact to my attention. According to a Huffington Post article, the incoming college freshmen are the first generations of students to be younger than the internet. This just served as a reminder of how young the internet really is and how much I take it for granted.

I found this video to be particularly informative. These days, it seems to me, most people take the Internet for granted. I know I have from time to time. However, this video re-newed my appreciation for our modern technology. I liked the particular scene in the movie when they were discussing "Hot Potato Routing." The illustration of the information being chopped into little pieces or "packets" and being sent to different places particularly aided my understanding. The determination of the inventors was especially inspirational. Even though the phone companies refused to participate, the inventors continued on their mission nonetheless. I look forward to seeing the rest of the video.

Here are some interesting websittes I found that also discuss the history of the Internet. ﻿

Although the video on Monday was extremely interesting, I also found it somewhat confusing to listen to. Thankfully, the illustrations helped me figure out a little bit about what was going on.

I am always very curious about how important inventions were first conceptually conceived. Thus, I thought the most interesting aspect of the video was the perseverance displayed by the creators of the Internet. Other companies were already complacent with the services they were offering their customers, and some said the technology simply didn't exist yet. I found this interesting because companies could not ignore a new invention like the Internet today. In the Information Age, which was mostly created by the formation of the Internet, following, understanding and capitalizing on innovation early is crucial to a business' survival.

Another interesting fact about the initial concept of creating the Internet was the big picture thinking the creators underwent. The visuals did an excellent job of showing how communication between different computers had to expand for the invention to work. While it may seem like common sense to us now, the thought process behind creating new units that can talk to the old and new computers is revolutionary. For me, the most remarkable aspect of the video is how the creators thought outside the box, challenged the status quo and eventually found a way to make their ideas a reality that changed the world.

I found the first part of the video was interesting for the most part. I am not technologically advanced so learning the origins of the Internet and how it all began to where it is today is awesome. It's funny that computers use to be treated like "rare sci-fi objects" whereas now computers are the norm and are everywhere. I really liked that Raymond Tomlinson, the man who invented e-mail, came up with the invention just for fun and chose the @ symbol simply because it made sense.I tried to find out how much his net worth was for his simple hobby but I couldn't find a specific article (Wikipedia cannot be trusted!). I also liked the irony in how phone companies weren't originally interested in building a computer network and Dr. Leonard's Kleinrock's Q theory. I found a great article on Dr. Leonard Kleinrock and how at age 6 after reading a Superman comic, he decided to build his own crystal radio from scratch. At age 6, I'm pretty sure I was still playing with play-doh and barbies so that's beyond fascinating to me. Here's the article and Dr. Leonard Kleinrock is the man in the picture FYI.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Internet video was very confusing to me. I am not very technologically advanced and haven't really used my pro to it's fullest potential. What seemed quite surprising to me was the Web was originally thought of by a psychologist. It was surprising to me that it wasn't someone in an electrical field or engineering or something of that sort. I also never realized what a big part computers played in war. I hope the second part of the video is more relevant to what I understand about the Internet and Web.

Because the prompt specifically asked for a book, I went immediately to Amazon and searched the books department for "finding the right pet." No first page results. I decided to google it and go from there.

I know these images really throw off the flow here but I thought they were cool. The first one is from Yahoo 1994, the next is from 1995, and finally 2011. I had to laugh when we talked about directories because I remember using those...

Anyway, I was really fascinated by the first half of the video. I didn't realize that the original super computers had to be connected to smaller computers just to decipher the information... or at least I think I heard something to that effect. It was also exciting to hear that many of the early internet pioneers were college students.

I have learned a little bit about the history of the internet as I've gone though school, but this video just proved how much history it actually has. First, what stood out and surprised me the most was the information about how the Lunar Module had less computing power than we did about ten years ago. That makes sense looking back seeing how technology has evolved, but just crazy how we were able to put something in space without all these resources.

The most interesting fact was that the concept of the Internet was introduced by a psychologist. I'm sure he conceived it as a way to connect people and help them reach a higher level of understanding of one another. I think this stage of the Internet is being finally being reached. Sure, we as humans have stumbled on ways of using the Internet tool, but we are learning how to use it to benefit our lives and not consume them.

Another interesting fact was the amount of vintage components the first computers were made of. I always knew computers were all analog at first, but I just never really imagined the amount of components that were used to make them work. It sounds very nerdy, I know. But imagine a modern watch made from an assembly line, and a simple, handmade watch. Which would you take? In the film, I saw vacuum tubes and vintage capacitors that can go up to $200 a piece now days.

This video is really interesting, and I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it. A few things caught my attention, the first being the packets. To jog your memory, packets are broken down pieces of a document. The smaller pieces are easier to send, and they all come back together on the receiver's computer. Another piece of information I didn't know about was hot potato routing. It means messages are still able to be received event if part of the network was destroyed. This was discovered by watching mice go through a maze. Looks like animal testing is good for something!

My name is Michael Barrett. I am a senior. My major is Journalism with a minor in English, which clearly shows that I like writing. This summer I had an internship at the Waco Tribune-Herald where I got to write different beats and get published, which is pretty cool to see your name in a newspaper credited as a staff writer. I'm originally from Seguin, have lived in Waco and now live in Austin.

I'm the youngest of a large family, eight in total, and I have a fraternal twin brother. I plan on getting a job at a paper or online publication where I could get paid to write, while as a hobby develop screenplays or books which would be my true passion, as long as I get paid to write I consider it winning. If I get tired of being broke I could always get into law school as a financial safety net to pursue other interests.

I had no clue there was even the thought of linking computers up during the 1960's. The foresight and determination the developers must have had to think of something as revolutionary as even the early stages of internet is commendable. During a time when little was known about computers and their abilities, the researchers were able to move past that thinking and effectively use their vision to shape what is now the modern world wide web. I always thought that even the concept of making the internet was not introduced until the 1990's but now thanks to the film, I am informed that the project had been in the works for quite some time. Also, I thought it was cool that they went against the grain and continued to develop their ideas although they had been told many times before that nothing would come out of it. I look forward to watching the rest of the film and learning more about the origin of the internet.I found a few websites that were interesting to me regarding the internet:http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.htmlhttp://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/

Monday, August 29, 2011

I'm Nicole George and I am a senior graduating in December. I am a public relations major and sociology minor. I am active in AWC and am currently serving as the president. I have enjoyed my time at Texas State and will definitely miss it soon after graduating. After graduating I hope to stay in San Marcos and maybe eventually move on to a bigger, better place. I enjoying traveling, reading and having fun with friends. I guess you could call me a wandering soul who's caught in the 78666 bubble.

I am currently interning at the Hays County Food Bank and truly enjoy my work there. I love the non-profit world and as cliche as it sounds, I love the warm fuzzies I get at the food distributions and maintaining a personal relationship with the clients. They especially love it when I remember their names and give them a smile. I'm working on the fall campaign, Turkeys Tackling Hunger, doing miscellaneous PR tasks. I'm getting great experience and feeling good at the same time!

Well that's all for now. Hope to learn a lot from this class, as I am almost completely unfamiliar with all of this! Follow me @thenicolegeorge.

I don't know if anyone else was with me today, but I felt like that video might as well have been in German. There was so much terminology and jargon, and I felt a little- scratch that- a lot overwhelmed being presented with so much conceptual information at once. I don't understand how someone can write all this code, and make these super computers and all of it manages to work perfectly in cyber space? HOW?! I just don't get it! But, the video is only halfway through. Perhaps I will gain more clarity as it progresses. I feel like I can share my lack of understanding with the rest of you because we are all friends, right?

Now for the assignment. One thing, among many, that I found interesting in the video was the fact that there was so much hesitation to develop the technology surrounding the Internet. With so much availability and accessibility, we often forget about the process that came first- the innovators, the pioneers, the grad students- those that fought for its development, and thankfully won. What would have happened if they gave up on the idea of the "interface" baby computers? Or hadn't been given the funding? All things I really hadn't thought about before the video.

Something else I learned/found interesting from the video, was the role that space exploration and wartime played in the evolution of the Internet. It had never occurred to me that Internet was being developed during a time of such heavy national significance, and that it easily could have failed because of that. How could someone fight for the funding of Internet when the US is at war and we are trying to land a man on the moon? Crazy.

Anyways, I am looking forward seeing the rest of the video and hearing more about the Internet's growth into the monster it has become.

Hello everyone. My name is Taylor Smith, I'm a senior from Victoria, and from what I gathered, the only advertising major in the class.

I began as a French major because it was my passion for such a long time until it became more of a hobby. I fell in love with advertising once I looked into it and here I am. I really like the School of J&M here because the classes are pretty small and I know at least three people in each of my ad classes.

I am a firm believer of getting involved in student organizations and have held many positions in various groups on campus. I'm currently the Executive Vice President of Student Foundation, a closed-membership organization comprised of student leaders who assist the University President. I'm extremely passionate about the organization and we just started fall recruitment so if you're interested in applying please e-mail me!!

As jobs go I'm a tour guide for the University. I work in the Visitors Center in LBJ and I give about 3 tours a week so you'll probably see me walking around the campus giving tours to soon-to-be Texas State students.

My goal in life is to become a creative director at an advertising agency, not a tour guide forever.

My name is Robert Cox, but my friends call me Rob (I'm the one on the right).

At Texas State, I'm the president of Phi Sigma Pi- National Honor Fraternity, secretary for our PRSSA chapter and a disc jockey for our radio station, KTSW. You can hear me on "Other Side Drive" on Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. and on my own DJ shift on Fridays from 2-4 p.m.

I am a public relations major with a communication studies minor. This summer, I had the awesome opportunity to intern at Edelman in Dallas. The skills and experiences I gained from my time with the agency are invaluable and really made me excited about the possibility of becoming a professional PR practitioner.

It may not make me the most popular person down here, but I love all things Dallas. Growing up in the city, I was raised to love the Cowboys and Mavericks, and I'm currently working on my relationship with the Rangers. I get most of my information and opinions on those teams from my favorite radio station, The Ticket.

In February, I got engaged to the love of my life (she's the one on the left), and we are planning our wedding which will be in July. She's much prettier and more artistic than myself, but let's hope she doesn't figure that out before the wedding. Of course, we both hope to end up in Dallas when all is said and done.I also love listening to music, watching movies, acting, playing guitar and hanging out with friends. My top three favorite bands are The Flaming Lips, Radiohead and The White Stripes, and my top five favorite movies are Army of Darkness, Memento, Thank You for Smoking, American Beauty and Waiting...

That sums up a little bit about me, but if you ever want to know more, feel free to ask or follow me on Twitter.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hey guys,
My name is Bonnie Brown and I am a senior public relations major as well. I'm originally from Kingwood (north Houston) and I currently live in Austin. I have an older brother and sister that are twins and a younger brother who just started his sophmore year at Texas State.
After I graduate in December, I hope to stay and start my career in Austin but only time will tell if that's going to be the actual plan. I'd like to travel in the near future since I've never left the United States and I'd really like to visit Italy, Greece and Australia.
As far as hobbies go, I really enjoy cooking (I think I'd be a chef if I had to choose another future career) and I really love going to Zilker Park in Austin a.k.a where ACL is held.
I'm excited to learn more in this class and getting to know you all better.

Again, my name is Julio Rochell and I'm super excited about this class. There are few little known facts about myself, as I'm a pretty open person.

I'm a guitarist. I've been playing for almost five years. I'm not a bedroom player and I love playing out with people. I currently play at my church in Austin. I love old and new music. From The Allman Brothers, to the Notorious B.I.G and everything in between. I'm a music gear junkie.

I also enjoy a good cup of coffee. My favorite coffee shop is Summermoon coffee bar in Austin. They fire roast their own beans in Dripping Springs. If you're not into coffee, you should check them out. If you're into coffee, careful. Charbucks will never be the same after you taste a Summermoon Latte.

Hi, my name is Sonya Rahrow. I am a senior public relations major with a minor in psychology. I plan on graduating in May then hope to get my masters degree in New York. I want to run my own PR firm in the future.

I was born and raised in Houston and have one older sister. She just recently got married and of course I was the maid of honor. She is now 14 weeks pregnant. We don't know whether the baby will be a boy or girl yet but I am very excited to be an aunt.

I am not that technologically advanced and google is basically my best friend when it comes to using the Internet. I can't wait to learn a great deal from this class. I think we can learn a lot from our professor this semester as well as eachother.

I'm Trista Bishop and I'm from Bandera, which is a small town near San Antonio. I am a senior public relations major, but I hope to attend law school after graduating in May. I really enjoy public relations and love to learn more about it but I'm also very passionate about corporate law. I spent half of my summer studying diligently for the LSAT, so that I might apply for law school this fall. The rest of my summer was spent in Valencia, Spain, studying spanish with my fiancee. The picture above shows the two of us enjoying some time in Madrid.

Lately, I've been devoting quite a bit of time to planning my wedding, which is coming up next March. With what little spare time I have, I enjoy reading, working on my crafts, and watching the Food Network and my all time favorite TV show, Supernatural.

I am very excited about this course. I've be wanting to learn how to design websites for quite a while. In fact, my father has been asking me for months to help him design a website for his craft business but I haven't been able to help. I'm hoping that after this course I will finally have the skills to get it done.

Hey there my name is Sam Chmelar and I am just beginning my senior year at Texas State and am planning on obtaining my degree in Mass Communication, specifically Electronic Media. I used to play football at Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches http://sfajacks.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sasu-m-footbl-body.html. I transferred after my first year there because of lack of interest, truly discovering the meaning of "Nac-o-nowhere" and am now on my third year living in awesome San Marcos.

I do not know much about what I will do after I graduate in May, but I hope to be able to find a job soon after and begin my professional career.
Currently, I'm at my neighbors house picking our fantasy football selections, watching the Texas Rangers game and jamming some Sublime. Pretty good times for a Sunday night to start off the week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKox6__hziY

I am very excited to begin my adventure into web design and look forward to a great semester of learning with you all.
I finally got a picture to come up on here. That is me with my roommate's boxer, Tank.

Hey Class Buddies :)
My name is Brianne Richardson, and I am originally from Kingwood. I enjoyed everyones' introductions on Wednesday and look forward to getting to know ya'll better. I feel that we all have God-given gifts and talents we can bring to the table.
This is my senior year in school, and honestly it feels surreal. I interned this past summer with the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce and have a possible interview with Shell Oil once I graduate. However, before I start working, I desire to travel the world. I would like to spend at least half my summer traveling before starting work. Some particular locations I have in mind are Europe, Australia, Antarctica, and different parts of the U.S.
Besides focusing on school work, I also enjoy a variety of activities such as swimming, soccer, hiking, camping, jewelry crafting, sky diving, sketching, crafting, reading, and searching for wedding decoration ideas ( a close friend of mine recently made me her made of honor, so I have wedding thoughts frequently on the brain. l.o.l).
I wish you all the best and have confidence this will be a fascinating semester.
-PR Love,
Brianne

My name is Chris Blackmon and I am a junior at Texas State. I used to be in a band and play guitar. It was one of the most fun times in my life.
Now I am focused on school and graduating.
I am a big movie buff and really like learning about new movie news that's going on. The site that I can kill a ton of time with is : www.joblo.com.
What I do other than that these days is work my job as a cashier at the University Bookstore, be a manager on the Texas State men's basketball team, and just hang out with friends.
It's a simple life right now, but a very busy one.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Hey Class Buddies :)
My name is Brianne Richardson, and I am originally from Kingwood. I enjoyed everyones' introductions on Wednesday and look forward to getting to know ya'll better. I feel that we all have God-given gifts and talents we can bring to the table.
This is my senior year in school, and honestly it feels surreal. I interned this past summer with the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce and have a possible interview with Shell Oil once I graduate. However, before I start working, I desire to travel the world. I would like to spend at least half my summer traveling before starting work. Some particular locations I have in mind are Europe, Australia, Antarctica, and different parts of the U.S.
Besides focusing on school work, I also enjoy a variety of activities such as swimming, soccer, hiking, camping, jewelry crafting, sky diving, sketching, crafting, reading, and searching for wedding decoration ideas ( a close friend of mine recently made me her made of honor, so I have wedding thoughts frequently on the brain. l.o.l).
I wish you all the best and have confidence this will be a fascinating semester.
-PR Love,
Brianne

My name is Kelli Gibson and I am a senior mass communication student from Austin hoping to graduate in May. I just recently completed my minor in sociology and even more recently finished up my last remaining Spanish credits in Costa Rica. It was an absolutely amazing trip and I can't wait to go back someday soon. I have a few pictures from my trip on my tumblr along with other various posts. I hardly ever update it and mainly just peruse other people's, but that may change very soon.

When I finish up with my degree I hope to spend some time travelling and then work in music event planning and promoting for a little while. I guess I just love the idea of live music and people coming together because of a common interest. I really love going to music festivals myself. They're an awesome thing in this era of technology where we can be seemingly shut off from the real world and people around us. I have been to about 6 music festivals in the past year (half of those were in Austin because, let's just face it, there are so many of them here). I am currently trying to get media credentials to have all access to the growing FunFunFunFest in November, but we will see....

My name is Jacqueline Holm and I am a senior public relations major from Sugar Land, Texas. I am set to graduate in December, and my dream job is to one day work for ESPN as a reporter. I am in love with Texas State University and couldn't think of a better place to spend my undregraduate years than right here in San Marcos!

This summer, I worked for a company called Top Sails and lead cruise ship excursions in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands! I worked on a pirate ship called Doubloon and got to take patrons on tours of the coral reef, swim with the turtles and bartend on the boat. It was a blast, and I am planning on going back to the Caribbean when I graduate and continuing my adventures on the open ocean!

I have a photo album online documenting my trip, so feel free to take a look! <-- click here!

Something else I am really excited about this semester, besides taking this class of course, is that I just found out yesterday that I got chosen to do an intership with the Bobby Bones Show on 96.7 Kiss FM! I am so exited, and am looking forward to impressing the show with my awesome html skills!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Hi, I'm Amanda Garrett and I'm a public relations senior set to graduate in December. I'm an intern for the Alumni Association, and I'm working on a cool project called the Gold Book. If you become interested in wanting one after watching my video, then pick one up at the Alumni House (it's by Chipotle and Sterry).

Anyway, enough about my plug for my internship! Aside from staying busy with my classes, I'm a member of PRSSA and Sigma Phi Lambda, a Christian sorority. I'm also a very active member at my church in Austin. I'm wondering when I'll have time to study and sleep with my crazy schedule!

After graduation I'd love to expand my Spanish skills and travel to Spain to teach. There's a program set up with Texas State where I can teach part time for a school year. I don't travel much, so it would be an amazing opportunity. After returning to the states, I'd love to go corporate with H-E-B. I have been working there for 3 years, so my chances of moving up are quite good.

For fun I love to karaoke, feed my shoe addiction and bake. I'm best known for my cheesecake and cream cheese frosting. I have friends ask me months ahead of time to make them goodies for their birthday. I've thought about opening a bakery, but I'm not a morning person...so it may not happen.

We got the idea for our topic originally from this article in the San Marcos Local News that said the city council is going to consider banning alcohol in city parks. The Local News also had this article that said that the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission authorized the city, "to prohibit open containers of alcohol and alcohol consumption in outdoor areas in the city’s central business district."

Our plan is to have a website about the recent restrictions on public drinking and open containers in San Marcos that includes interviews with people on both sides of the issue, present the facts of the situation, and include ways that people can act to voice their opinions.